The Texas Attorney General’s Office is launching undercover investigations into what it calls “radical leftist organizations” operating in the state, at a time when many on the right, including President Donald Trump, are blaming the left for the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and the rise of political violence across the country.
“The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release. “There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming.”
Paxton said that “leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger,” pointing to what he called “corrupted ideologies,” such as “Antifa.” Antifa, which stands for anti-fascist, is a decentralized political movement. While many Republican politicians, including Trump, have portrayed antifa as an organized group of “terrorists,” antifa doesn’t have official leaders.
In the aftermath of Kirk’s death last month, Trump designated antifa as a terrorist organization through a new Executive Order that instructs government agencies to “investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations” conducted by antifa. The Texas Attorney General’s Office said in its press release that its undercover probes would build on the President’s Executive Order.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office went on to blame the “radical Left” for rising political violence in the country, including accusing “a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement” of being responsible for Kirk’s killing.
Authorities have not yet publicly shared a motive for the assassination. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the suspect, Tyler Robinson, had a “leftist ideology” that was “very different” from the beliefs that his conservative family members held. He also said that Robinson was in a romantic relationship with a partner “who is transitioning from male to female.”
Even before a suspect was identified in the shooting, Trump and a number of other right-wing figures began blaming the “radical left” for Kirk’s death and the rising political violence in the U.S. But data reveal that right-wing extremists are responsible for more political violence in the U.S.: According to research by the Cato Institute, right-wing terrorists are behind more than half of the roughly 80 politically motivated killings in the last five years, while left-wing perpetrators only account for 22%.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office didn’t share any additional details about what groups would be the target of these undercover probes, or what these investigations would entail.
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